That's a Secret I'll Never Tell
by Marl0u
Summary: After revealing Quinn is pregnant and Santana a lesbian, Rachel Berry is on her way to conquer the Crown of Constance, but not without the help of Kurt Hummel. Of course Q and S aren't wait for that, they'll fight back. In the meanwhile Tina discovers a horrible secret. And of course there's Gossip Girl, ready to spread some rumors. Sequel to You Know You Love Me. No GG characters
1. Intro

**A/N: Hello thank you for clicking on my story. I'll keep this short. This is a sequel to my story You Know You Love Me. It is a story in which the Glee characters are in the world of Gossip Girl (but without the characters). There will be POV from Quinn, Santana, Kurt and Tina, which is why they are tagged. I'm planning on posting the first real chapter this week. This is just the intro where I recap what happened in YKYLM.**

* * *

_Welcome to 2015, my dear Upper East Siders!_

_I hope you had a merry Christmas and enjoyed the peace as long as it lasted. Starting today I'm officially back from my holidays and I'm ready for some gossip. But as we wait for that, I will quickly recap what you missed last year._

_I'll start with my favorite: Miss Quinn Fabray. Let's admit: we all thought that Q would be Queen of Constance by now. Oh boy, we were wrong. Baby Fabray is far from being Queen and closer to being a mother with her own little baby. And if that wasn't scandalous enough we found out that Quinn isn't really sure who her baby's daddy is. Finn Hudson or Noah Puckerman? I wish I could tell you the answer, but I'm afraid that we'll have to wait until Quinn is due. In the meanwhile I can tell you that I heard that the Fabray Christmas Dinner was a very nice event this year. _

_Switching from Q to S! If not Quinn Fabray then Santana Lopez would be the one to claim the Throne, but it seems our dear Latina also had some secrets to hide. Apparently S plays for the other team. Nothing wrong with choosing Angelina over Brad, S, just very interesting to know…_

_And then there's of course the tragic break-up between B and Junior. I've received hate mail over that, but let's face it: if it wasn't true, then the Changs wouldn't have been in marriage counseling. So I guess it's true then that Mrs. Chang and Mr. Pierce are indeed having an affaire. Fortunately Senior has dealt with divorce cases his whole life, so if it comes to that I'm sure he can win his own. _

_But there were some other players in the game last semester. Take Kurt Hummel. He was the rising star in 2014. From being a no one to being friends with our favorite Upper East Siders, but I guess that's what you get when your stepmother is Carole Ellison. K saw that chance and he took it, even though it seems to have cost him his friendship with his old friends. But who cares about friends when you have admirers?_

_My personal favorite this year was Rachel Berry. I think most of us only knew Rachel as the girl who wore those hideous outfits, but things have changed. Maybe it's a change of wardrobe, maybe it's Cassandra July saying she likes Rachel Berry or maybe it's just R plotting her way around the Upper East Side. And now she's got Kurt Hummel on her side. I'm calling it: those two are going to conquer Constance. _

_Oh and I would almost forget it: Artie Abrahams came back! Yes, our old Golden Boy with his wheelchair. For a brief time he dated the invisble girl Tina Cohen-Chang but at the Winter Ball things cooled down between the two of them. They weren't spotted together after that, but I'll keep you updated on their relationship status. _

_As you can see a lot happened in the first semester and I can't wait to see what 2015 will bring us._

_And who am I? That's a secret I'll never tell. You know you love me. _

_XOXO Gossip Girl_


	2. Chapter 1: New New York

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Gossip Girl**

"I'm glad she left the part about my Christmas Dinner out." Santana said with a sigh. She lay on Brittany's bed. Brittany was next to her, both of them in pyjamas and their hair in braids. Quinn was sitting across the large bed, also wearing her pyjamas and her hair braided. She had Brittany's phone in her hand and had just finished reading Gossip Girl's last post out loud. Neither of them was happy about it. They didn't need to be reminded of everything that happened to them since the Winter Ball. Especially not Quinn. She had had the worst christmas holidays ever. Her parents had been furious when they had read what Gossip Girl wrote, but not at Gossip Girl this time but at Quinn. Now she was grounded, only allowed to leave the house for school. Fortunately she was allowed to invite her friends for a sleep over. Somewhere it was a relief to be grounded. It could have been so much worse. Quinn had expected her father to kick her out, but he didn't. He didn't speak with her either, nor did her mother. It was very quiet in the Fabray's apartment these days.

Quinn's sister Frannie visited with Christmas. Quinn had secretly hoped that Frannie would pick her side and help her a little, but she only got angry sneers from her sister, how Quinn had ruined her reputation. Quinn didn't say a word during the Christmas Dinner. Her parents and Frannie chatted as if nothing was wrong. It was clear that Quinn wasn't really part of their perfect family anymore. She had shed many tears until she had no tears left.

Apparently Finn had tried to call her a billion. Quinn didn't know since her parents had taken her phone which was also the reason she was reading the Gossip Girl post from Brittany's phone. For a change she wished that she could talk to Finn. She had to apologize to him for everything that happened. She hoped he understood this had been the reason she had been so distant, but she expected he only called her because he was a gentleman. Finn probably didn't want to be with her anymore. She couldn't believe how much she had messed up her relationship. If she only hadn't spent that one night in Spain everything would be different now.

"Was it that bad?" She asked Santana.

Santana groaned and nodded. "You have no idea. My parents didn't tell my family because they hoped they hadn't seen it. But of course they forgot that my cousin Isabel lives in New York too and she saw Page Six. So in the middle of everything she leaned towards me and said: 'I always knew you were a dyke.' I'm not sure if she even meant to be quiet but she wasn't. My entire family heard it. My abuela refused to look at me after that and the rest of the family sort of ignored the next two days."

"Being completely ignored suddenly seems nice." said Quinn, as she patted Santana's arm. "Unbelievable how everything fell apart so quickly."

"It's all Berry's fault." Santana said bitterly. "If she hadn't send all those things to Gossip Girl our lives would have been so much easier now."

Quinn nodded. Of course, if Rachel Berry hadn't been there, she still would have been pregnant but Finn wouldn't have known that there was a possibility that he wasn't the father of her child. Berry had forced all of her secrets about of her, before she was ready to tell them herself, and made them public. Because of Berry her father was losing support from his voters, because of Berry everyone at school knew what was going on with her. She hated that. Santana was right. Her life would be a lot easier if it wasn't for that awful Rachel Berry. She nodded again and sighed: "I know."

"We should get back at her." Santana turned around so she was lying on her stomach. Leaning on her elbows, she looked at Quinn, her eyes eager with a plan of destroying another life. "You know, spill some of her secrets."

Quinn hesitated to agree with Santana. There was nothing she wanted more than get revenge at Berry. She hated that girl with burning passion but something was holding her back. If they would get their revenge at Rachel, wouldn't she do the same to them? Berry had proven to be a very good player in the game they played at Constance. Wouldn't that end in a never ending cycle of them fighting for the Crown of Constance? Wouldn't it destroy them all?

Brittany voiced those thoughts as she rolled over too. "You want to start a war, S?"

"Please, it's not like we can't handle Manhands." Santana said. Quinn really wanted to roll her eyes. When would Santana learn not to underestimate her opponents? She didn't do it though because Santana added: "Besides, I think we all ran out of secrets for her to find out."

_I didn't_ Quinn thought, but she didn't say a word. This was another secret she couldn't share with Santana and Brittany. Somewhere she still didn't trust them. They had dropped her so easily in the first semester that Quinn didn't know what would happen if she told them. She was afraid she would be left out again and she couldn't handle that. She needed her friends more than anything, because it was clear she couldn't count on her family. So she kept quiet and hid another secret.

"That's true." Brittany said in the meanwhile, "So what do you propose?"

Santana shrugged. "I haven't really thought of anything yet, but we could at least dig around in her past. I bet she has something to hide. Everyone does. We'll see what happens after that, but I'm sure we can have some with little miss Berry's secrets." She winked and smiled.

Brittany nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan. I hope we can get her to fall flat on her face. Count me in."

Now Santana turned her head to Quinn. "What about you, Q? Are you with us?"

Quinn hesitated again. She couldn't say yes. She couldn't risk that her last secret would be revealed, not now she was pretending she didn't have any. But then she couldn't say no either. Santana and Brittany would ask questions which Quinn didn't want to answer. They would drop her again, lock her out of the world of Constance again. She would be alone. She had no choice. She needed all the friends she could get right now. So she gave a quick nod. "I am."

* * *

It was a sunny January morning, as far as mornings can be sunny in January in New York. Some watery rays of sunlight warmed the stairs in front of Constance and St. Jude's, as Kurt ascended it. His arm was linked with Rachel's. He went by her house this morning to make sure she was wearing something acceptable. Kurt couldn't bear it if the future Queen of Constance would wear another reindeer sweater. He had told her that after Christmas and to his surprise she hadn't been angry. She had just shrugged and told him she had never taken interest in fashion. Kurt had never been more astonished in his life. How could someone not care about fashion? He had taken her on a shopping spree on which she had bought a few decent outfits (and an awful skirt that Kurt would ritually burn if he got his hands on it). Fortunately she wasn't wearing that abomination today, but a tight, black skirt and a white, chiffon blouse. It was simple but elegant and Kurt was proud of his creation.

"What a wonderful day to start school again." Rachel woke him from this thoughts with those words. They had almost reached the top of the stairs and saw the students of both schools greeting each other after the holidays, catching up with stories about Christmas dinners. Kurt smiled. Rachel was right, it was a wonderful day to start school again.

"Excuse me? Rachel Berry?" A girl approached them. She was a freshman, maybe a sophomore, but Kurt didn't recognize her. It was obvious from her clothing style that she was a student at Constance. "A girl in my class said you know Cassandra July and I'm a huge fan of her. That girl in my class also said that you got some people some autographs, so..."

"Get out of the way, midget." Another voice interrupted the fast words of the freshman. Kurt glanced at the source of that voice and found that Suzannah Philips was standing behind the freshman. Next to her were Aubrey Farrington and Jullianna Chadwick. "Don't bother Rachel with things like autographs. She has more important things to do."

The freshman girl shot a nervous glance at Rachel, but she didn't pay attention to her. Rachel looked surprised at the three girls standing in front of them and completely ignored the poor freshman. Kurt didn't help her either, because he shared Rachel's feeling of surprise. Suzannah and Jullianna were seniors. Although they weren't important enough to be Queen of Constance, they were very influential. Of course none of them had ever said a word to Rachel, at least not in a setting in which they would be interested in a response.

Now things were different. Suzannah smiled. "How were the holidays? Did you have a good Christmas?"

The surprise of the moment had faded away from Rachel's expression. Before she had looked young and out of place among the three other girls, but now Kurt saw the person who had sent Quinn Fabray's secrets to Gossip Girl. "We don't celebrate Christmas. I'm Jewish. But the holidays were great anyway."

As Rachel asked the girls about their holidays and told them things about Cassandra July's next movie, Kurt zoned out. He had noticed Finn Hudson at the entrance of St. Jude's. He looked bad. Kurt felt a sudden stab of guilt, because he could have stopped Rachel from making all of his problems public. He shook his head. Why was he blaming himself? It was Quinn who caused most of Finn's problems. She was the one to blame. As a friend and future step-brother he felt obligatory to at least talk to him.

"I'm going to leave you, ladies." He said, although he hadn't participated in the conversation, and then to Rachel: "Do you want to grab lunch?"

Rachel gave a short nod before returning to her conversation with Aubrey about the rumours that Leicester Woodward and Beatrisse Jennings were dating. Kurt walked towards Finn who noticed him halfway and raised his hand as a matter of greeting. Being closer Kurt now noticed that Finn had knotted his tie in a way that he didn't even know was possible. "Did you have a hard time waking up this morning?" He said when he was close enough, with a nod to the tie.

Finn looked down and swore. He tried to fix his tie so clumsily that Kurt rolled his eyes and asked: "Do you want me to do it?"

Finn tried for five more seconds and then decided to give up by dropping his arms so Kurt could do it. As Kurt stepped forward to fix his tie, Finn sighed and said: "I really didn't want to get up this morning. I didn't want to go to school, feel humiliated and face her."

Kurt nodded and took a step back. "But I heard you have called her a dozen times. And Gossip Girl said you were at the Fabray's apartment."

Finn rolled his eyes and groaned. "That stupid website. You can't move three inches without her noticing. And yeah I was at their apartment but they didn't let me in. Apparently Quinn is grounded and not allowed to see any guys. As if the damage hasn't been done already."

"Wait, you were willing to face her father, but not Quinn herself?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, "Because that sounds kind of...crazy."

"To be honest I really didn't want to face her father either, but I felt like I had to. There is still a possibility that the baby is...you know...mine. I feel like..."

Finn's voice dropped mid-sentence, his stare fixed on something behind Kurt. He followed his glance and saw three girls ascending the stairs to the two schools. It wasn't hard to make out who they were. Even when Kurt hadn't see them, he could tell by the stares of the other students. On the left was Brittany Pierce, on the right Santana Lopez. Quinn was in the middle of course. She wore a loose skirt and blouse, but it didn't really hide her bump. Kurt wondered why her family still denied the pregnancy, when the evidence that Gossip Girl was right, was so clear.

Kurt glanced at Finn whose face was as white as a sheet. He hadn't seen Quinn since the Winter Ball, Kurt realized. "Are you okay?" He asked carefully.

Finn still stared at Quinn, as he said: "I can't believe how easy life was, when I just had a crush on her."

Kurt smiled sadly. He felt sorry that Finn had to go through all of this. He hadn't asked for any of this. He wanted to say something about that but the bell rang. Finn tore his gaze away from Quinn and her friends and turned around. He walked with Kurt into the school building, but not before Kurt caught him looking over his shoulder to catch one last glimpse of his ex-girlfriend.

* * *

"I'm glad we survived this day." Santana and Brittany had settled down in a small coffee shop after school. Quinn hadn't joined them of course. She was still grounded and went straight back home. Santana felt bad for Quinn, but she couldn't forget that Quinn had blackmailed her a month ago. The trust in their friendship had definitely faded. That was sad. They had been very good friends, but the world was hard, Santana told herself. Friendships ended and people betrayed each other. That was just the way it was.

Brittany sat opposite of her at their small table. Santana suspected that Brittany, like her, wanted to spend as much time out of the house as possible. She still lived with her father, since her mother was on the other side of the country, and she was angry with him. Santana didn't exactly know why, because Brit had been particularly vague about that. She had been very clear about the fact that she didn't want to talk to him though.

"Me too." Santana said, "Though it wasn't as bad as I imagined it to be."

She had thought girls would gossip about her all the time, refuse to sit next to her and play stupid tricks on her. To her own surprise they didn't. Yes, there had been a lot of whispers, but no one glared at her as they had in her nightmares. That didn't mean she wasn't afraid it would happen eventually. Tomorrow they'd have PE, so she was preparing herself for awkwardness and uncomfortable glares in the locker room.

"Yeah." Brittany sighed. Santana tilted her head. It was clear to see that something was bothering her. "Brit, what's wrong?"

Brittany sighed again. "Nothing. Not really." She hesitated, biting her lip and avoiding Santana's gaze. "I saw Junior today after fifth period. I don't know what he was doing there but...I..."

Her under lip quivered. Tears welled up in her eyes though she tried really hard not to cry. Santana felt so bad for Brittany. She had loved Junior so much but he had made it clear he didn't want to have anything to do with the Pierces anymore. Santana reached out for Brittany's arm to show her her support. Brittany looked up. A few tears slid down her face and more were waiting in the corners of her eyes. "It's okay, Brit. It's okay to miss him. You can cry if you want."

New tears rolled down Brittany's cheeks. Santana noticed that Brittany was one of those people who still looked beautiful when they cried. She looked like Frankenstein's Bride herself, which was one of the reasons that she never cried in public. Her hand was still on Brittany's arm, stroking it comfortingly. Some hot tears dripped on her hand but she didn't really care. When the crying only grew worse, Santana moved around the table and sat on the small bench next to Brittany. She put her arm around her friend. Brittany put her head on Santana's shoulder, still sobbing silently. "It's okay." Santana repeated, "It's okay, Brit."

"Did it...did it hurt this much when you and Matt broke up?" Brittany asked between sobs.

Santana sighed. "No. But I guess that's because I was the one who broke up with him and..." She hesitated for a while, then dropped her arm from Brittany's shoulder and said: "And I think I didn't like him as much as you liked Mike, because somewhere I knew that I...that I didn't like boys."

Brittany was quiet for some time. Her head still rested on Santana's shoulder, but Santana could feel the awkwardness between them. She hated this so much. She didn't want anything to change between them because of her sexuality, but things did change. Now she started to feel sad, too.

"What about Spencer?" Brittany suddenly asked. Santana was surprised that Brit even asked about her. She had been dating Spencer for about a month, everything completely secretly of course. But like Santana, Spencer hadn't come yet, so she had told her they couldn't date anymore after the Winter Ball. "It was worse... I'm not sure I was really in love with her, but when she told me we were over, it felt like a stab in my heart. I spent three days crying in my bedroom, but that also had to do with all the other things going on."

Brittany lifted her head from Santana's shoulder. "Does it still hurt?"

Santana shrugged. "I feel better now, but it hurt when I saw her today." She looked at Brittany. The tears had dried, but there was still sadness in her eyes. Santana smiled at her in an attempt to make the both of them feel better. It didn't work for her, but maybe it helped Brit. "I think we'll feel better in a few days."

"You think?"

Santana held up her pink and gave Brittany another smile. "I promise."

Brittany locked her pink with Santana's and for the first time since she had brought up Mike, Santana saw a little smile on Brittany's face.

**A/N: I hope that you liked the first chapter. I'm already working on the second one, but I'm also pretty busy with work and school, so I can't promise anything. Please leave a review! :)**


	3. Chapter 2: A Night of Neglect

**A/N: Sorry sorry sorry that it took so long. I've been really busy with school and procastination. This chapter was already done last week, but I wanted to write the first part of the next chapter to keep myself motivate, but it didn't work out the way I wanted and aaargh... Anyway, here it is. I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Gossip Girl**

* * *

There are a lot of awkward situations you can get in when you go to school with your former best friend. You can be in each other's class, you can have the same friends, you can be forced to cooperate. Fortunately none of this applied to Kurt and Mercedes. Kurt had figured it was pretty easy to avoid Mercedes during school hours and even easier outside of school. He had forgotten of course that St. Jude's and Constance shared a library. So here they were, both waiting in line to borrow a book. Kurt hadn't noticed her when he stepped into the line, because he would have come back later if he had seen her. But then they locked eyes and it was too late to leave without telling Mercedes he was avoiding her. And there was another problem: the line wasn't moving. Some idiot was debating with the librarian about a fine they got and it didn't seem like they were going to give up any time soon, which meant that Mercedes and Kurt would be forced to stand next to each other for more time than both of them wanted.

Kurt decided to be the mature one and make a friendly conversation. "How were your holidays?"

Surprised Mercedes raised an eyebrow as if she was checking he was really talking to her. When no one else replied and Kurt kept looking at her, she seemed to realize he was indeed talking to her. Her face changed. Now he could read suspicion in her eyes, wondering what he needed from her. Somehow that still hurt him. They had been friends for so long and now they couldn't even talk about an innocent topic like the holidays. That was partly his own fault. He was aware of that. He had decided not to reconcile after their fight. He had decided to do the exact opposite of what Mercedes wanted him to do. That didn't make him feel better though.

Finally Mercedes said something. "They were okay."

It sounded so lightly that Kurt knew she wasn't interested in having a conversation with him. Now it hurt even more. He glanced down and bit his lip. Right now he was reminded that he missed their friendship. Being friends with Rachel was nice, but she wasn't Mercedes with whom he could talk about everything. He could tell her his secrets, hopes, dreams and fears. He couldn't say those things to Rachel, because she was part of the Constance scene. She couldn't be trusted with secrets. He took a deep breath. "Look, Mercedes, I...I'm sorry about that fight we had before. I...I didn't mean to say all those things."

Mercedes blinked, but didn't immediately say anything. Kurt was very good at reading her, but now it was hard. She was either still angry with him or sad or both. "But you meant them?"

He glanced down again and swallowed. He couldn't deny that it was true. He still meant what he had said, but he wished he had kept it to himself. He wished he could take it back and bury it in a dark place in his mind. But that was impossible.

"I did." He said in a small voice. Mercedes nodded and turned around again. For a moment he wanted to leave it alone. Mercedes didn't like him anymore. So what? He would find new friends. But he couldn't leave it. "Please, I can't take back what I said, but I wish I could. I still want to be friends and..."

Mercedes spun around. She looked straight at him now, her eyes glistening furiously. Kurt had never seen her like that before. Without really noticing he took a step back and bumped into to the person behind him. "Friends?" Mercedes said. She didn't raise her voice, but she sounded very attacking, sending shivers down Kurt's spine. Mercedes was really angry with him. "Like you were friends with Quinn? And Santana? And Brittany? Like you are friends with Rachel now? At the beginning of this year we were making fun of her because of her taste in fashion and now you're her bestie? I've told you before and I'll tell you again. You don't know what being a friend means, Kurt Hummel. And to ask me to be your 'friend' again, is not going to work. It's only going to insult me."

Kurt flushed. Although she hadn't raised her voice, everyone in the line had heard what she had said and they all stared at them. Even the guy who was discussing his fine with the librarian. Usually Kurt liked it when all eyes were on him, but now it felt horrible. Was this how Quinn, Santana and Brittany felt when they were at school? Did they feel everyone staring with their hungry eyes, waiting for the right moment to attack?

The worst was that Mercedes wasn't done yet. She looked right at him, her eyes piercing his skin. "I guess I'll borrow this book tomorrow." She walked away, showing everyone that she was the winner of this incident. Kurt felt small and humiliated. He looked down as he waited in the line with his book, hoping noticing would say something about it. That hope was completely false of course. As soon as Mercedes left, he noticed the whispers and the phones that were pulled out. And for the first time in a very long time he wished he hadn't moved himself into Gossip Girl's view.

* * *

_K just got a very cold greeting from his best friend Mercedes. Or should I say former BFF? According to M Kurt Hummel is not a very good friend. You better watch out, R._

* * *

Quinn had just taken in a seat in her French class when she saw Mercedes enter the classroom. Like everyone else Quinn had read the Gossip Girl post earlier this morning. She felt sorry for Mercedes when all eyes turned to her and whispers emerged. It wasn't her fault that Kurt was a traitor. So Quinn waved kindly at Mercedes, who smiled and sat in the seat in front of Quinn.

"I hate those vultures." Mercedes said as she turned around.

Quinn chuckled. "Tell me about it."

Mercedes smiled, but glanced down. She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but hesitated. "I think I owe you an apology." She finally said and she looked directly at Quinn, "For dropping you last semester. I shouldn't have done that. You didn't deserve it. It was just...Kurt said it was better to choose Santana's and Brittany's side, but I should have made my own decision. I'm sorry."

Quinn was astonished by Mercedes's apology. No one had said sorry to her before, not even Santana or Brittany. Everyone had just pretended like it never happened, hiding their guilt or fake kindness. It felt good to hear someone acknowledge that they had made a mistake by dropping her when they found out she was pregnant. It felt good to know that not everything had been her own fault.

Quinn smiled. "Apology accepted. And about Kurt, you were right about him. At least I think you were right, I only know what you said according to Gossip Girl."

Mercedes smiled too. "It was pretty accurate, for once."

"Then you were right. I know I have done things to friend that weren't exactly friendly, but I like to think I was never as careless as Kurt. I mean, I blackmailed Santana last semester, but I didn't only want to be popular again. I also wanted to be her friend again. I don't think Kurt feels that last part."

Mercedes shrugged. "I don't know. He and I used to be best friends and I thought we would be best friends forever, but he changed. He got interested in the battle for the Crown of Constance way too much, if you ask me. I can't be friends with someone who uses every friend he has for his own purposes. I mean there's a reason he befriended you and Santana and Finn and..."

Quinn was startled when she heard Finn's name. What did Mercedes mean by that? What did Kurt use her ex-boyfriend for? Although they had broken up, Quinn felt a sudden urge to discover the answer to that and protect Finn from Kurt. But before she could ask Mercedes what she had meant, the last bell rang and the teacher started class. Mercedes turned back around and left Quinn wondering about her words for the rest of the class.

Finally the bell rang, announcing that class was over. Quinn packed her stuff as fast as she could and followed Mercedes into the hallway. "Mercedes, wait!" She said, "What did you mean when you said K uses Finn for his own agenda?"

Mercedes seemed hesitant to tell her. "I'm not sure I should..." Then she sighed, "You know what? I'm done with protecting his secrets. Maybe Finn should know."

"What is it?"

Mercedes took a deep breath. "Did Kurt ever tell you about his dream to become a fashion icon?"

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "No..."She said slowly. She hadn't known Kurt well enough to know about his deepest dreams and desires.

"Well, he has that dream and he's been looking for the best way to make it come true since I've known him. In the beginning of this semester he decided that Finn could help him with that, so he befriended him."

Quinn didn't really see how Finn could help anyone with fashion, since he didn't really have a sense of fashion. She had always wondered how he managed to do that since his mother... "Oh, because of Carole."

Mercedes nodded. "Exactly. He thought if he was friends with Finn, Finn's mom could help him get a job or internship at Vogue. But that wasn't enough. After a few conversations with Finn, he realized that they had something in common: they both have only one parent that is still alive. So he decided to play matchmaker. Remember that party where Carole and Burt met? That was Kurt's work. He had taken his father there with the intention of him meeting Carole."

Quinn shouldn't have been surprised, but she was. She had been there that night and she hadn't noticed at all that Kurt was trying to make his father and Carole meet. She did remember he wanted to talk to Carole, but she hadn't given it a second thought at the moment. Again she realized how much she had underestimated Kurt, how he was more inventive than she ever thought, how he was a bigger treat than she ever imagined. "And after that?"

"He didn't do anything afterwards. That was all Burt and Carole and I think they're happy now. I just think it's horrible that he tried to make his father fall in love with a certain woman so he might work for Vogue in the future."

Quinn gave a short nod. An idea had popped up in her head. She might as well use this information. If they couldn't hurt Rachel yet, they could hurt her best friend, though Quinn suspected Kurt and Rachel were rather allies than real friends. "I think Gossip Girl would find this very interesting." She said and she dropped the volume of her voice. "B, S and I are trying to get revenge on Rachel. Do you want to help?"

Mercedes was startled, her eyes wide and her lips formed an 'O'. Slowly the idea seemed to get through to her, but she shook her head. "No, I don't. I'm sorry, Quinn, but what after happened last semester, I think I'd rather stay out of it. It doesn't mean I don't want to be your friend. It's just I don't want to be involved in this battle."

Quinn nodded and smiled, but she was disappointed. She had expected Mercedes to say 'yes' immediately. But could she blame her for saying 'no'? Wasn't that what she had wanted to do herself? Maybe it was her ego that got hurt, the fact that not everyone did everything Quinn Fabray ordered them to do. She wouldn't admit it easily, but that feeling had been amazing. It was great to have power and be in control. These days she often felt like she didn't have control over anything.

"I understand." She told Mercedes. "I have a request though. Can I send this to Gossip Girl? I mean it would be a good start to get Kurt down."

Mercedes hesitated again. Quinn could see she wondered whether sending this to Gossip Girl would involve her into the game. So she added: "I mean I barely talk to Finn. He's angry with me and he has every right to know. But I think he needs to know. Maybe not from me, but from someone else. Gossip Girl could help."

Mercedes still didn't seem convinced. "Listen," Quinn said, "Let's do it this way. I'll read an article about Burt and Carole in public and complain that it almost seems like a set-up. I bet if I say something like that, it'll get on Gossip Girl. And you know how things go around here when a rumor is out. Everyone talks about it and it would hurt Kurt's reputation. Maybe he'll realize that he can't only befriend people who can help him with something."

That seemed to do it. Mercedes sighed. "Okay, do it, but please leave me out of it."

Quinn smiled kindly. "Of course."

* * *

If you tried hard enough, you could read anywhere. At least Tina Cohen-Chang could. Today she was sitting in a corner of the empty cafeteria that the students of Constance and St. Jude's shared. She sat on the floor with her back resting against the radiator. It was the only warm place she could think of. Except for the library of course. But she didn't want to risk seeing Artie so she had avoided that place since school had started again. Not that she hadn't seen Artie this week. She had caught a few glimpses of him, but she had always looked away. She didn't want to see him.

She knew people wondered what went wrong. Artie probably himself too. She hadn't told him why she didn't respond to his text messages or phone calls. It was silly of her, but she wanted him to figure it out himself. He probably never would. Tina had accepted that fact and returned to her own self, promising she would never to fall for someone again. She couldn't go through that feeling of joy and happiness, only waiting for it to be smashed into a thousand pieces when he'd leave her alone in cold.

That's what Artie had done. At the Winter Ball he had told her he would come back, but he didn't. She had been standing there, not knowing what to do. She couldn't look for other friends to talk to, because she didn't have any and she was too afraid to make them. She had been there alone. Desperately she had wanted to go to the bathroom, an old trick to hide the fact that you were alone. But Artie said he would be right back and asked her to wait there. So she stayed. It had been long and agonizing. She had felt the curious eyes of her classmates in her back. She had seen their hidden chuckles. Tina Cohen-Chang was a loser. But she had stayed, because of Artie. He never returned though. Later she learned that was because he had found Puck who had found a devastated Quinn and they had brought her home. Maybe she could have forgiven that, but then she read on Gossip Girl that Puck could be the father of Quinn's baby. Why did Artie help a guy who had betrayed his best friend by sleeping with his girlfriend? Finn had been so nice to Artie when no one else was.

Tina didn't get it and honestly she didn't want to understand. She didn't want to be part of a world that made you turn your back on your friends. She'd rather have none. So she didn't react to Artie's messages on Whatsapp, ignored his phone calls and avoided his glances. It hurt. She had cried her eyes out during the winter break. But nothing would hurt as much as being abandoned by the person you were in love with.

She turned the page of her book. She was reading in _The Raven Boys_, a book she received as a gift from her parents for Christmas. It was really good. It had just the right amount of mystery, fantasy and humor in it. She had already ordered the next two books in the series, so if she finished this one, she could immediately start on the second one. She turned another page and let the story devour her.

"Leave me alone, Kurt."

Tina's head shot up. Two pairs of footsteps followed the shouted words. Two people entered the cafeteria, but they didn't see Tina hidden behind the tables and chairs. She kept quiet. She didn't want to bother them and although she didn't want to admit it, a small part was curious to know what was going on. It was definitely not meant for her ears.

"I said, leave me alone." She recognized the voice from somewhere, but she couldn't tell whose it was exactly. When the other person spoke, it wasn't hard to guess. Even if she hadn't heard his name, she would have recognized his high pitched voice. "I can explain. She's lying."

"Is she? Because that sounded just like you."

"Excuse me?"

"You know exactly what I mean."

"What are you saying? Am I not a good friend? I'm sorry to say, Finn, but you don't have a lot of other friends. Puck slept with Quinn. Mike doesn't really speak to anyone these days and do you really consider people like Dave Karofsky and Matt Rutherford as your friends? Honestly I think I'm one of your best friends right now. Not to mention your stepbrother."

Finn. The first voice belonged to him. Tina recognized his voice now he spoke again. "Get out."

"Finn, come on."

"Just. Get. Out."

The fading footsteps told Tina that Kurt had taken Finn's words seriously and left. She heard a chair scrape over the floor and a sigh from Finn's direction. Should she tell him she was here? It was probably the polite thing to do, but she didn't dare. She checked her phone, wondering how long they would have to share this space. Her phone told her that it was only fifteen minutes. She could do that. She was about to put the device away when it make a loud noise. Startled she looked at the screen. It was that damn Gossip Girl app that announced a new post. She muted the sound, but it was already to late.

"Who's there?" Finn's voice sounded through the empty cafeteria.

There was no escaping now. She had to show herself. Slowly she got up from her hiding spot in the corner. "H-hi.."

Finn looked startled and a little angry, probably because he knew she had been eavesdropping on him and Kurt. She bit her lip and glanced down, her book in her right hand. "I-I'm s-sorry. I d-d-didn't mean t-to..."

The look in Finn's eyes softened, when he saw her. He came a bit closer so there were only two tables between them. "You're Tina Cohen-Chang."

She gave a quick nod, but didn't say anything.

"You and Artie were..." He didn't finish his sentence and Tina was glad for that.

"I d-don't w-w-want to t-talk a-a-about it." She told him, glancing down.

Finn didn't ask about Artie. Instead he glanced down too and asked in a somehow timid voice: "Did you hear the conversation between Kurt and me?"

Tina didn't know what to say. She didn't want to admit she had been eavesdropping, but it was kind of pointless to lie. Finn wasn't stupid. He probably already knew the answer and just need confirmation. So she nodded. "Yeah."

Finn sighed. "Could you...could you not mention that to anyone please."

Again Tina gave a nod. It was not as if she had anyone to tell it to.

Finn seemed relieved, because he smiled. He glanced to the place Tina had been sitting before. "Thanks. What were you doing here anyway?"

"R-reading." Tina showed him her book. Their conversation reminded her of Artie. Talking about books with a nice guy of her own age wasn't something she did everyday. That thought made her sad. She glanced down, trying to ban Artie out of her mind.

"Would you mind if I joined you?"

Tina was surprised by that odd request from Finn. He must have read that surprise from her face when she looked back at him, because he said: "I mean nothing by it. I just need some peace and well, it seems peaceful here"

Tina wasn't really sure if she was that comfortable with reading in Finn Hudson's presence. But she felt sorry for him. He had been cheated on by his girlfriend and best friend and apparently he was in a fight with Kurt too. Would she deny him a little bit of rest? The answer was that she couldn't. She nodded. "O-of c-c-course."

So for the next ten minutes Tina sat with her back against the radiator again, reading in _The Raven Boys. _A about ten feet away from her sat Finn. He didn't do anything, just stared in the distance. Tina didn't bother him and he didn't bother her. No words were said. When the bell rang, he got up, as she gathered her stuff. "Bye Tina." He told her with a smile on his face. "And thanks again."

She smiled back, but her heart was torn in two. She liked to have contact with people of her own age again, even if it was like this. But Finn's kindness reminded her of the person she didn't want to think about: Artie. She stayed on the ground for a minute more as her heart bled for him. Again.


	4. Chapter 3: The Back Up Plan

**A/N: I think I should apologize that is has taken me so long to finish this chapter. I just didn't have any inspiration. Fortunately I have exams now and I'll do anything to avoid studying (it's one of my special talents). I hope you forgive me and read the chapter anyway :)**

* * *

_Spotted: Quinn Fabray sneaking off school property. And she is not alone! Accompanied by Mr. Noah Puckerman Q makes her way down town. Where are you going, Q? Trying to hide your secrets again? Please, you of all people should know by now that I have eyes everywhere._

* * *

"You'd think she'd leave me alone, since I'm such a loser now." Quinn sighed as she handed Santana her phone back, "But apparently even now I'm more interesting than Rachel Berry. Why are there no stories about her on Gossip Girl?"

"Maybe she_ is_ Gossip Girl." Brittany suggested. She took a bite of her sandwich. While chewing her eyes drifted away from Quinn to a place behind her, probably to the table where Mike Chang was seated. Quinn resisted the urge to turn around and gaze at that table too. She wanted to watch Finn for a while. Yesterday they had talked after class for a few minutes. It hadn't been long, because Quinn was still grounded. It hadn't been a very affectionate conversation either, because Finn just wanted to make arrangements in case the baby was his. It had been clear to her that the baby was the only reason he talked to her, not because he still liked her. She had seen the hurt in his eyes, which made her heart break a little too. What had she done to him? She could only imagine how he would feel after reading Gossip Girl's latest post.

"Maybe. Or maybe the world thinks it's very interesting that you and Noah Puckerman, possible father of your child, are sneaking off school property." Santana said. She tilted her head, curiously looking at Quinn, "Where _were_ you going anyway?"

"Nowhere." Quinn said, purposely not looking at Santana or Brittany. Instead she stared at her hands, her nails covered in pink nail polish. Now that she was grounded she had time to do these kind of things, which was probably the only good thing that had come from this situation. If she was going to be a teen mom loser, at least she had perfect nails.

Santana raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, though by peeking through her eyelashes Quinn could see she really wanted to ask. She focused on her pink nails again, trying not to feel guilty. She couldn't tell Brittany and Santana her last secret. She promised herself that she wouldn't get another person involved in this mess.

"When did this happen anyway?" Santana asked, "Won't your father find out if you skipped class?"

"He would." Quinn sighed. She really hoped her father wouldn't see this post. He would be furious and lock her up in her room forever, or worse, kick her out. That thought came more and more frequently to her. She tried not to think about that possibility, but she couldn't help it. Now she tried to push it away and elaborated on the trip that she had made with Puck, "Puck and I have a free period together, so that's when we sneaked off the school grounds. We took Puck's limo."

"And to where exactly?" Brittany asked curiously.

Quinn sighed again, because she didn't, couldn't answer that question. "Just...nowhere in particular. We drove around New York, watched the city. It was just nice being away from all the stares and whispers. They're everywhere I am and it was just a relief to escape them."

She glanced at Santana and Brittany. Santana's were fixed on the table, but she nodded. Brittany did look at her, with a compassionate glance in her eyes. Quinn breathed out slowly. They bought her lie. They even thought they understood how she felt. She just wanted to escape the hungry eyes of the St. Jude's and Constance students. A feeling of guilt stabbed her heart. She didn't want to lie to the friends she had just reconciled with, but she couldn't help it. She couldn't tell the truth.

"But why taking Puck with you? You could have asked one of us to go with you."

"I...he..." For a moment Quinn didn't know what to say. That was the problem with lies. You had to think of all the details to keep it up. One wrong answer could blow your cover. Fortunately she had had enough practice these last months. "He needed that escape too. It hasn't been easy for him either. He lost his best friend and his other friends barely talk to him. I think that Artie Abrahams is the only friend he has left."

"How ironic." Santana, "The guy he ignored all this time, is the only one who took his side."

Quinn didn't respond immediately. Santana's remark made her feel incredibly sad. Hadn't the same happened to her? She had underestimated people like Rachel Berry and Kurt Hummel. She had thought she was invincible, but life had caught up with her and so had her mistakes. "Lately my whole life seems ironic."

"Come on, Quinny, don't look so sad." Brittany put her hands on Quinn's and gave her an encouraging smile. "You still have us. You're going to be fine."

With a lot of effort Quinn managed to smile at her friend. She appreciated that Brittany wanted to make her feel better, but she didn't really understand. She could handle a break up with Finn. She could handle being ripped of her popularity and followers. She could even handle Gossip Girl's rumors, but in a few months she would have a child and she wasn't ready for that. She didn't expect help from her parents, they were too busy saving their image of the perfect family. She didn't know who the father of the baby was, so she didn't know what to expect from them either. She felt like she was alone in this and in some ways she really was. Brittany and Santana were nice to her, but their problems were nothing compared to hers.

Santana put her hand over Brittany's and Quinn's. "You heard her. You've got us."

Quinn smiled again. She tried. She tried to believe them. She really did. But the only thing that the smile did, was hiding the tears that burned behind her eyes.

* * *

"Tell me again why we had to end our shopping spree to come here? You said you didn't like it here." Santana was sitting on a bar stool at the counter in the Pierce's kitchen. Fifteen minutes ago Brittany had suddenly dragged her to her apartment without giving her a good reason for it. Now she was making hot chocolate for the both of them.

"That's because he's here all the time. Now we're home alone. And we can't discuss this in public. I'm sure she has spies everywhere."

"Okay, who exactly are we talking about. Who's 'he'? And who's 'she'?"

Brittany glared at Santana as if she had just asked really the stupidest questions. Santana didn't feel intimidated by that. She just raised an eyebrow and glared back. "He is my father." Brittany explained. Her voice was drenched in bitterness as she said that. Santana wanted to ask about it, but she didn't dare to because Brittany had told her clear enough that she didn't want to speak more about the topic than necessary. "And she is Gossip Girl."

Brittany came over to the counter and put two mugs on it before sliding on the stool next to Santana. Santana covered the mug with her hands, but pulled them back almost immediately because it burned her hands. "And what do we need to discuss exactly?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "Our plan to destroy Rachel Berry of course."

"Of course." Santana said with a sly smile appearing on her face. She was ready for this. She wanted to see that girl going flat on her face and be as humiliated as they had all been. "Do you have any plans?"

"No." Brittany shrugged, "But I thought you'd come up with something, since you're pretty much a scheming mastermind."

Santana chuckled and tried to hold her mug again, this time she succeeded. "I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not."

"It is." Brittany assured her smiling. After that her smile faded away. Glancing down she fumbled with the handle of her mug. "Do you think I should have invited Quinn to this meeting?"

Santana sighed. "I don't know. Lately she doesn't seem like herself. Not that I'm blaming her. She's expecting a baby and she isn't sure who the father is. She has a lot of stress, so I don't think she's really busy with taking revenge on Rachel." Santana looked at her best friend and added: "I think it's up to us to make a plan."

Brittany nodded and took a sip from her hot chocolate. "My thought exactly. So where do you want to start?"

Santana thought about that for a few moments. "Well, first of all we need to figure out what her weakness is, other than fashion of course. She probably has a few. No one is perfect. And hopefully we'll can also find some juicy gossip on her. But in order to do all of that, we need to think of everything we know about her. And everything we don't know. Do you have a piece of paper?"

Brittany nodded and got up. From a drawer in the living room she retrieved a writing pad and a pen and handed them to Santana. Santana turned to a new, blank page and wrote in an elegant handwriting _Rachel Berry_ at the top of the page. "So what do we know about Rachel?"

"She dresses awful." Brittany immediately said. Santana smiled and wrote the words _no sense of fashion_ beneath Berry's name. "What else?"

"She has two dads and they own that theater on Broadway. And they had that show with Cassandra July. She was in Vanity Fair because of that."

"Any idea what that theater is called?" Santana asked, as she wrote down a list of words that summarized what Brit had mentioned.

"Not a clue."

Santana gave a nod and wrote _name?_ in large letters behind the word _theater_. They'd have to find out later what the theater of Rachel's parents was called. It didn't seem like relevant information, but Santana thought any information could be useful. She had done some scheming before, but not like this. It had always been about small things: a dress, a role in the school play or a favor she needed from a teacher. Not a plan to destroy someone's life. It was both terrifying and exciting. She needed to prepare this in the best way possible, which meant gathering every little piece of information there was to find about Rachel Berry.

"Didn't they live in Brooklyn?" Santana asked Brittany, her pen hovering above the paper.

Brittany shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I never really took interest in her."

Santana gave her a reassuring smile and pulled out her phone. "Fortunately there's Facebook and Google."

As Brittany got her laptop, Santana already searched Rachel's name on Facebook. They weren't friends on social media and Santana hoped she could keep it that way. However she suspected that their revenge would involve playing nice to the girl that ruined their lives. Her suspicion was confirmed by the fact that you couldn't see everything on Berry's profile if you weren't friends with her. Santana could see her profile picture and some posts she was tagged in. However she couldn't see any other photos or things Rachel had put on Facebook herself. She sighed, her thumb hovering over the 'Befriend' button. Would it be a good idea to add Rachel as a friend? Wouldn't that just make her suspicious? She decided to ask Brit. "Do you think adding Berry on Facebook would be a good idea?"

Brittany put her laptop on the counter next to her empty mug. "Why on earth would you want to be friends on Facebook with Berry?"

"Because she's not stupid." Santana explained, "Only her friends can see certain things she posts on Facebook. And I'm guessing that will apply to more stuff. It would be easier if we befriended her. You know, a "Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer" sort of thing."

Brit bit her lip as she opened her laptop. She seemed to be thinking about what her friend just had said and Santana could see she had hadn't realized before that they would have to pretend to be friends with Rachel Berry. Even if it was just on Facebook. "Listen," She said in an attempt to comfort her best friend, "this could also work if only one of us would pretend to like her. If you don't want to, I could.."

"No." Brittany said firmly. She had torn away her eyes from her laptop and was now looking straight at Santana, her eyes full of determination. "If you're going to pretend to be friends with Berry, then I'm in too. We're going to do this together. I mean, I don't think asking Quinn for such thing would be a good idea, but I can do this. So if you think this will make getting our revenge easier, then I'm in."

A smile spread across Santana's face, lighting up her whole face. There was this warm fuzzy feeling in her heart that made her feel so happy, like she could burst out in tears of joy any minute. She didn't mind doing it alone, but it was so much better when Brit was by her side. It would make things so much easier. So she held up her pinkie and glanced at Brittany. "I think it will."

* * *

_How on earth did she get this information?_ Kurt wondered. It was a Sunday morning. The sun was shining, but it hadn't been able to expel the cold of January yet. Kurt was was wearing at least three layers of clothes and a warm winter coat and it was still cold. He had put his hands in the pockets of his coat in an attempt to warm them. It didn't work. His eyes were on the coffee shop across the street. It was called the Black Bean according to the faded black letters on the window, and it was the shabbiest cafe that Kurt had ever seen. But what did he expect from Queens anyway?

He sighed and crossed the street. Rachel had send him here. "Quinn Fabray is hiding something. I want to know what." She had said to him and she had texted him an address that he needed to check out. It seemed crazy. Quinn Fabray was a seven months pregnant loser. How could she possibly be a threat to Rachel's reputation? Kurt wondered if there was something else to Rachel endless obsession with Quinn Fabray. That was something he needed to find out later. Now he had to focus on this task.

He hesitated before pushing the door of the coffee shop open. He had never been in a place like this in a neighborhood like this. Now he really wished he had actually told Rachel that it was a ridiculous idea instead agreeing with in for the sake of their friendship, or rather alliance.

It wasn't as bad as he'd expected. It looked like one of the cafes Kurt had been in Brooklyn, but shabbier of course. Groups of tables and chairs were spread across the room. The furniture was mixed. Some chairs were new, some old, some were made of wood, some of plastic. The colors of the posters on the walls had faded and looked like they came from the 90s, and so did the music that was quietly playing in the background.

Kurt couldn't imagine Quinn would come here. It was everything she was not. Still he walked in to the coffee shop and sat down at the bar. There were two other people in the room. One was a 40-year-old man who looked like he had been here all night, the other was the bartender. He was young, probably not in his twenties yet, and admittedly quite handsome. He looked up when Kurt sat down, putting the glasses he had been washing, down.

"What can I do for you?" He asked politely, but Kurt noticed that he was being observed closely. He suspected everything about him screamed that he didn't belong in this part of New York.

"A coffee, please. Black."

The bartender gave a nod and started to make a coffee. It was silent in the cafe expect for the moans from the man across the bar. Both the bartender and Kurt ignored him. Kurt studied the menu although he had no intention of ordering anything else than coffee. He thought drinking the coffee was already pretty risky, eating the food here would be one step too far.

The bartender put a cup of coffee in front of Kurt on the bar and continued with what he had been doing before, washing glasses. Kurt took a sip from his coffee and to his surprise it wasn't as bad as he expected. He had put down the menu and now studied the rest of the room. There was no trace that Quinn Fabray had been here and honestly he'd never expected to. The only way to discover, was asking. Kurt was hesitant to do that, since he suspected Quinn was careful. He didn't want her know that they were looking for her secrets. Again. And yet there was no other way to find out. So he approached the bartender again: "Can I ask you something?"

The bartender looked up, a surprised look on his face. He probably hadn't expected Kurt to talk to him. He put down the glass. "Of course."

"Are there others that ever come here?" Kurt asked, "I mean do other people from Manhattan, people like me, ever come here?"

A smile appeared on the bartender's face. It looked good on him, accentuating the pretty features of his face. "Why do you want to know?" The bartender asked in return.

Kurt wondered if he didn't answer his question on purpose. Or maybe it just had been a silly question, because Kurt couldn't believe himself that anyone from the Upper East Side would voluntarily go to this coffee shop. The bartender's question was probably not strange one, but it still took Kurt a few seconds to come up with a good answer. "Because I could use a place where I can escape to." He said with a sigh, "My family is going through some stuff and when I'm in Manhattan everyone knows that. I hate those stares and whispers, so I thought I'd come here, where nobody knows me."

The bartender nodded slowly. "Yeah, I've heard before how horrible that can be."

Kurt almost fell off his stool when he heard the bartender say that. Could Rachel's information be true after all? Of course there were more people than Quinn Fabray that had fled Manhattan because of their problems, but it made Rachel's statement a little more believable. Kurt hoped he hid his surprise well enough and asked as casual as possible: "Really?"

"Yup." The bartender said, "A friend of a friend of mine is in the same situation. She's done some stupid things and she says the people won't leave her alone."

Kurt nodded understandingly, but his heart was pounding. The bartender was speaking in present tense about this person and it was a woman. How much of a coincidence could it be? He wanted to ask if it was Quinn, but he didn't dare to. If Quinn was a friend of a friend of the bartender's, then there was a chance she would hear about his visit to this cafe. "That sucks. Does she come here often? Because you know, we might know each other and I'd rather have a place where really no one knows me. And from what you tell me, I think she'd prefer it that way too."

"I understand. She doesn't come very often, so I think you'd be safe here." The bartender smiled again and again Kurt noticed that it looked good on him. "And I won't tell her about you, if you don't want me to."

"That'd be nice." Kurt said and he smiled back at the bartender. "I'm Kurt, by the way."

"Is it smart to tell me that?" The bartender asked and he winked. Kurt's face turned red. Was this guy flirting with him? He didn't know what to think of it, especially because again, this guy was quite handsome.

The bartender didn't seem to notice Kurt's flushed face - or maybe he did and he chose not to say anything about it. Still smiling he held out his hand. "Just kidding. My name is Blaine."

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked that last bit. I did very much haha. A review would be very much appreciated!**


	5. Chapter 4: Dream On

**Okay I know it's been super long since I posted anything but I have finals and deadlines and I wanted to finish it but I just couldn't bring myself to it. So I'm really really sorry if you've been waiting for this. After next week I don't have exams anymore so hopefully I can write then. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee, Gossip Girl or any of their characters.**

* * *

"How can anti-cyclic public policy help avoid unemployment on a societal level?" Tina muttered. She stared at the question in her economics book, but the answer didn't magically appear in her head like she'd hoped. She didn't understand a thing about the business cycle. Their teacher had briefly mentioned it, but never truly explained what it was. Now he had given them a dozen assignments as homework, as if they would understand it without any explanation.

Tina gave a sigh and tried to focus, but it didn't work. What was anti-cyclic public policy again? She browsed her book for the definition, but even that was quite vague. _An anticyclical public policy means that the government implements a policy that is the opposite of economic developments. _The book didn't give examples or additional information. Just that. How was she supposed to answer that question with just that line? She sighed again. Maybe it was better to leave that question open and move on to the next one.

Just when she was about to do that, she heard a familiar sound. She wondered if he heard it himself, but she recognized the squeaking sound of the wheels of his chair immediately. She couldn't mistake that for another sound. Yet she didn't look up, because she hoped he hadn't noticed her yet. Maybe if she stayed quiet, he would leave her alone. So she focused on the next question. _Explain why the New Deal (1933-1938) is an example of anticyclical policy. _What the... She almost wanted to throw the textbook out of a window. How was she supposed to know any of this? Distracted by the question she didn't notice that the squeaking of Artie's wheelchair had come closer. She only noticed him when he spoke.

"Tina?" Because she didn't expect him, she jumped. He immediately apologized. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I just..."

He didn't finish that sentence. Tina didn't know what that meant, but frankly she didn't want to find out. She just wanted him to leave. Yet she felt it was rude not to turn around, so she faced him. Her heart leaped when she saw his familiar faces so near. It was strange that she still felt such things around him, when he had caused her so much pain. Artie looked nervous, probably because she had ignored him for almost a month now and she wasn't speaking now either. Maybe it was her turn to say something, but then she remembered the feeling when he didn't come back at the Winter ball and decided she had every right to remain silent.

Eventually it was Artie who broke the silence. "How are you doing?"

"Fine." She didn't mean to answer with just one word or make the conversation even more awkward than it already was. It was just that she didn't know what else to say.

Apparently Artie had hoped she'd elaborate on that, because he was silent for a while too. He then took a deep breath and said: "Listen, I feel like I should apologize for the Winter Ball in person. I really shouldn't have done things like that, but I couldn't leave Puck alone with Quinn at the moment and I..." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Tina. I should have told you where I was going."

Tina glanced down and nodded. Although it didn't take away the memory of that night or her complete lack of understanding for his actions, she was glad he apologized.

"So… I guess we're good." Artie said hopefully.

Tina didn't know what to say to that. Had she forgiven him for what happened? No. Was she glad he apologized? Yes. Was it possible that she would forgive him one day? Yes. Did she want to hang out with him again? No. She was very sure about that. It was not necessarily the fact that he had left her without telling her where he was going, but it had more to do with why he had left. Artie was now friends with a guy who had ignored him most of the time and he was in a fight with Finn, the guy who had been his friend even when things got difficult. She didn't understand how that worked and she didn't want to know. Maybe she didn't have any friends, so maybe she didn't completely understand how friendships worked, but she was pretty sure that turning your back on them, wasn't normal. It was the Upper East Side that made you do such things - she had seen it before on Gossip Girl - and she didn't want to be part of it. So yes, she appreciated his apology, but no, she didn't want to be his girlfriend or even friend again.

"Artie, I d-d-don't..."

"What?" Artie now seemed confused and she could understand it. Maybe she was just being silly, but to her Artie wasn't the same person he had been before. He wasn't the nice guy who asked about her book obsession anymore. Every time she looked at him, she remembered what happened and that he wasn't like she thought he was. She couldn't go back to how it was before.

She took a deep breath, trying to say the words without stuttering. "I don't want to be your friend a-anym-more."

Artie stared at her for a moment, his eyes full of sorrow and hurt. Tina felt sorry for him and for a second she wanted to take her words back. Then she recalled why she had said then and she remained silent.

Artie nodded slowly and took a deep breath. His glance wasn't on her anymore but somewhere on the ground. He wheeled his chair backwards away from the table she'd been working on. He turned it and left the library. Stupid enough it broke her heart so see him leave like that. She wished she had just said goodbye to him. She was the one who had broken things between them and yet, she couldn't help but feel sad it was over.

* * *

"Dad? I'm home." Kurt closed the front door behind him, taking off his coat and dropping his school bag in the corner of the wardrobe. He walked to the living room, waiting for his father's response. He should be home right now. Unless Carole didn't have a meeting with the editorial office of Vogue after all. Lately the two of them had been spending every minute of their spare time together. Not that Kurt minded. This was the way he expected to reach his goal. He became more and more certain that he would succeed in doing that. He was one of the most popular guys at St. Jude's right now and he had Carole Ellison in the exact position he wanted her in. There was no way this could go wrong.

"Kurt." Kurt stood still in the moment he heard his father's voice. There was something wrong. Now he saw him sitting on the couch, his face matching the sternness of his voice. The last time he had sounded like that was a few years ago and Kurt had hid the fact that some kids beat him up every day for three months. His father had been angry, but also concerned. Now there was no trace of concern on his face. Kurt took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come, and said with a forced smile on his face: "Dad."

"Sit down, please."

Kurt nervously sat down in a chair opposite of the couch and crossed his legs. Something was wrong. His father never used the word 'please' in contexts like these. He had done something wrong and he had the slightest suspicion what it was. He took deep, slow breaths and waited for his father to speak again.

"Carole and I had lunch today." His father told him. For a moment Kurt thought it was something else, not something he had done, but then his father continued by showing him his phone. "She showed me this message that this 'Gossip Girl' wrote."

Kurt breathed out slowly. He knew what was about to come. Somehow Gossip Girl had discovered how Carole and Burt met and Kurt's role in that encounter. He didn't know how she had gotten that information. He had told Mercedes but he couldn't imagine she would do something like this. Mercedes didn't want to be involved in the world of Gossip Girl, she had made that very clear. So who could have known it? He thought he had been careful enough when he talked about it, but maybe someone overheard them. He didn't get the time to think about the person who sold him out, because his father started citing the Gossip Girl post, as if Kurt didn't know it by heart already.

"Since the end of last year our favourite columnist Carole Ellison and the unknown Burt Hummel have been dating. I am usually not interested in the love life of our beloved parents, but the match between F's mother and K's father is so perfect, even I cannot ignore it. It's such a lovely couple that many have wondered if someone might have played matchmaker and it seems like that's true. Our favourite King of Constance seems to have planned his father's and Carole's encounter and not for his father's luck. Our dear K wants one thing only, working at Vogue. What a coincidence that your future stepmother works there, K."

His father looked expectantly at him. Kurt avoided his glance, thinking of something to say that would make this less bad. He could say it was a lie of course. Gossip Girl told lies all the time. He wouldn't be the first one she spread rumours about. Except he couldn't lie to his father's face. He could hide pieces of information for him, but he couldn't tell him an outright lie.

"So, is it true?" Burt asked.

Kurt took a deep breath, hesitated for a few seconds more and then said: "It is."

Burt let out a deep sigh. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, somehow looking older than before. Kurt felt so guilty in that moment. He hadn't felt it before, because he had told himself that Burt and Carole were happy. Who cared if there were some other intentions involved in playing matchmaker? But now he saw what the truth behind his father's encounter with his girlfriend did to him. "I'm sorry, dad." He whispered.

His father looked at him. "Carole and I broke up this afternoon."

The guilt swelled, filling Kurt's body until he felt like he couldn't breathe. Did he do this? "What...?" He stammered. "Why?"

Burt sighed again. "Finn told Carole about this Gossip Girl thing and convinced her that it wasn't a lie. During our lunch Carole wanted to know if I had anything to do with it. If I knew it. I told her that I didn't and that you would never do such thing. I said it was all lies. _I defended you, Kurt_."

He looked him straight in the eye as he spoke the last four words. If Kurt hadn't been overwhelmed by guilt already, he would have been now. He glanced down, not able to stand the piercing look of his father. "I'm sorry, dad." He said again. He hesitated before speaking again. He didn't want to show his father his worst side, but he felt like he owed him an explanation. "I...I wanted to get in touch with Carole, because she works at Vogue, yes. I thought she could help me with an internship or something. Then Finn mentioned that his mother was single too and I thought: why not? I didn't know if it would work and I didn't see any harm in it. I just...I didn't think..."

"That is clear." Burt interrupted him, "You didn't think. You didn't think about the people you were getting involved. This isn't a game, Kurt. You were playing with real people with real feelings and you hurt them."

"But you were happy." Kurt weakly protested.

"And now I am not." Burt got up from the couch. "You're grounded for the next two weeks and I'm going to cut off your mobile internet."

Kurt didn't protest now. His father was right. This was his fault. He had gotten his father and Carole into this mess, so he would suffer the consequences. His father left him in the living room to prepare dinner, which gave Kurt some time to think about his father's words. He had forgotten that his plans did involve innocent people like his father and Carole. He shouldn't have done that. But what he was doing now, wasn't the same. He and Rachel plotted against people like Quinn Fabray and Santana Lopez. They weren't innocent. Yet he couldn't forget the cute bartender and the friend he had been talking about. What would happen to them if they were exposed on Gossip Girl? Frankly, he didn't know if he was ready to hear the answer to that question.

* * *

_Let's be honest, everyone has been eagerly waiting when Rachel Berry would make her first real move as Queen of Constance. And now she has. The Rachel Berry House Party Extravaganza is a fact. I've had a few quick looks at the Guest List and I can only say that I'm looking forward to see how Miss Berry will entertain the elite of Constance and St. Jude's. __May the odds ever__ be__ in__ your favour__, Berry._

* * *

"You have an invite?" Quinn stared at Brittany with eyes, wide in surprise. "Both of you?"

"Yeah, I don't get it either." Santana said with a sigh. None of them had expected to be invited to Berry's party. It seemed like a stupid move to ask them to come to the party, because they knew all of Manhattan's teenage elite and they might just draw all the attention to them instead of Rachel. Quinn hadn't thought Rachel would make such a mistake. Maybe she wasn't as good as Quinn had thought or maybe she didn't think of them as a real threat to her crown. Honestly Quinn didn't know if she should. It was clear she wouldn't wear the crown any time soon, but Santana or Brittany...

"I think she felt sorry for me. Maybe she tries make amends for what she's done to me and Mike." There was a flash of hurt on Brittany's face when she named her ex-boyfriend, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. Quinn resisted the urge to take her friend's hand and squeeze it. For the last week Brittany more and more pretended that she was over Mike, but it was clear to see she wasn't. Quinn didn't want to bring it up, but she had exchanged some glances with Santana, knowing her other friend had also noticed. Santana had shaken her head. They should let Brittany deal with her heart break the way she wanted to.

"It seems like a stupid move." Santana said, "I mean we could completely ruin her party and her reputation."

A vile smile appeared on Brittany's face. "I just might."

"Or you could play it more subtle." Quinn mixed into the conversation now. "Ruining her party will only make you her determined to make you pay. And we all know how that will end."

Santana nodded agreeing. "We talked about this, B. You have to play nice."

_We talked about this?_ Quinn thought. She couldn't remember they had ever had a conversation about a 'Keep your enemies closer-thing'. It was probably discussed in a conversation that she had missed. She felt a bit disappointed, because she'd thought they were the Unholy Trinity again. Now she started to fear that something in their friendship was definitively broken, something she couldn't repair. Brittany and Santana had something going on that she didn't have with the both of them. She bit her lip and tried to hide her realization.

"I know, I know, but I'm really afraid that I will say something stupid to her and blow everything." Brittany now said. She laughed and looked at Santana. "You probably have to keep an eye on me all night."

Santana laughed with her and Quinn wished she was also invited to Rachel Berry's stupid party. Of course she wasn't the most suitable person to go to a party right now, but still. She felt left out, which made her sad and emotional. She hated the pregnancy hormones. For the last week she cried about almost everything. She had gotten a C- on her European history test and almost burst out in tears and so had she when they'd been watching a documentary about lions and she saw a proud mother lion licking her cub. The only time she'd been abnormally not emotional when she had overheard her father and one of his employees talking about how his rates were dropping and that this was probably Quinn's fault.

Santana interrupted her thoughts about her father. "Do you have any tips for us, Q?"

It took Quinn a few seconds to realize what they had been talking about. She gave a silent sigh. Britt and Santana were right not to include her in every decision they made. She just couldn't keep her mind on the subject and she feared she wasn't going to be of any help to them.

"Since of the three of us you are the expert on her." Brittany elaborated. "You've encountered her more times than Santana and I."

Quinn focused on the subject of Rachel Berry and tried to come up with good advice. "I think she's very observant, which she hides very well. We'd barely heard from her and yet, she overthrew all of us. So I guess you have to be careful of that. On the other hand, she's never had the chance to observe us on any parties, so maybe she's a bit insecure. Telling her that you like her party, even if you don't, would probably be appreciated."

"I think everyone likes it when other people enjoy their parties, Q." Brittany said, but she winked and smiled. "Thank you though. We'll find a way to manipulate Rachel Berry into liking us."

Quinn looked at her two best friends and smiled too. She felt like a big sister with two younger twin sisters. Maybe that was how it always had been between them. She'd always been the leader of their trio and Brittany and Santana had followed her like Quinn had followed her own big sister when they were younger. Now she was out of the game and she supposed the time that she was invited to every party on the Upper East Side was over. But Santana and Brittany now got their chance to shine and maybe that wasn't so bad.

She was getting a bit teary-eyed. Those damn hormones were making her emotional again. Yet, when she looked and Santana and Brittany talking about ways to get Rachel Berry to like them and discover her secrets, she couldn't help feel like a proud sister.


End file.
